More than one in three Montgomery County residents facing food insecurity, a statistic that continued to rise last year, according to a report released Thursday from Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB). The issue is particularly affecting marginalized communities as well as an increased percentage of middle-income and highly educated residents.
The nonprofit is the largest area organization that coordinates food distribution to people across the greater Washington, D.C., region. In its annual Hunger Report, CAFB assesses the needs and demographics of area residents facing food insecurity.
“Rather than seeing improvements in the economic stability of individuals across the region, and an associated reduction in the need for food assistance, the Capital Area Food Bank and its network of nonprofit partners have seen the opposite: the number of people seeking help has been climbing higher,” the report said.
At least 34% of Montgomery County residents are facing food insecurity, according to the report. This is an increase from 2023, when 27% of residents reported facing food insecurity.
During the pandemic, there was about a 50% increase in food insecurity in the county population, according to Heather Bruskin, director of the Montgomery County Office of Food Systems Resilience. That was coupled by an estimated 50% increase in the number of organizations that were providing food assistance in the county.
According to the CAFB report, over the 2024 fiscal year, CAFB distributed food for 64 million meals – more than double the amount distributed before the COVID-19 pandemic, and an increase of five million meals from the fiscal year prior. While the numbers represented food distributed to all of the communities served by CAFB, the data is consistent with the demand that local food banks in Montgomery County are facing. Food distribution nonprofits have reported an increase in demand and patronage over the past couple of years, but this hasn’t necessarily been met with increase in resources.
So What Else, a food bank in North Bethesda, found in a recent survey of food pantry patrons that 20% of visitors were new, and Manna Food Center in Silver Spring has seen “unexpected level of requests for service” since the pandemic, according to chief executive Jackie DeCarlo.
According to the CAFB report, a growing trend shows that people facing food insecurity are “increasingly educated and more middle class,” but those impacted disproportionately remain “a population comprised of people of color, families with children, and those with lower incomes and levels of education.”
More than 40% of food insecure families have children, and Black families make up the largest proportion of food insecure families at 42%, followed by Hispanic families at 24% and white families at 18%. At least 22% of food insecure families are considered middle-income or higher, and 29% have college degrees. At least 76% of food insecure families are employed.
More than 27,000 Montgomery County children are food insecure – that’s 11% of that population.
During this year’s negotiations over the proposed fiscal year 2025 county operating budget, the County Council cut County Executive Marc Elrich’s (D) proposed $7 million in spending for the county Office of Food Systems Resilience to $3.5 million. The office distributes funding and serves as a liaison between government and community food systems partners such as nonprofits, farmers and businesses, according to county officials.
Though the office—created in 2023 to address food insecurity gaps following the COVID-19 pandemic—had a $1.1 million budget in fiscal 2024, Elrich had based his fiscal 2025 proposal on the anticipated need for more funding for local organizations addressing food insecurity, according to Bruskin.
In October 2022, the county council approved an additional $8.1 million for the county’s Food Staples Program, which provides food to individuals and families in need, to prevent it from running out of money, and added $6.4 million for initiatives to alleviate food insecurity in the fiscal year 2024 budget. These funding initiatives were not renewed.
Local food banks have been increasing and changing their services to match the needs of residents. A food distribution nonprofit, Nourishing Bethesda, celebrated the launch of its latest initiative, Choice Market, last week. The food bank is set up as a miniature grocery store in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad building and focuses on giving people in need options in what food they receive rather than receiving groceries primarily through pre-sorted bags.
Just weeks earlier, the county government unveiled a program in partnership with Instacart called MC Groceries that allows recipients of food vouchers to choose their groceries and have them delivered through the app. Officials say it’s the first initiative of its kind in the nation.
“These repercussions [of food insecurity] will only grow more severe over time should the trends in this report continue in the current direction,” the CAFB report concluded. “Increasing hunger and inequity will creating greater individual and community suffering, while also harming our region’s ability to meet its talent needs and stay competitive.”